Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to hunting equipment and accessories, and more particularly to buoyant decoys for the attraction of wild fowl game.
Description of the Related Art
Many decoys are stationary, and, accordingly, lack life-like motion. Game may be wary and may not approach a decoy that lacks flotation so that such decoys may be ineffective in attracting game. While various decoys may be available that include flotation, the flotation may be generally one-dimensional and therefore not sufficiently realistic to attract game.
A search of the patent arts did not disclose any references that read directly on the claims of the instant invention; however, the following references were considered related:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,318,240, issued in the name of Hillesland;
U.S. Pat. No. 6,381,896 B1, issued in the name of Coker;
U.S. Pat. No. 6,481,147 B2, issued in the name of Lindaman;
U.S. Pat. No. 7,631,456 B2, issued in the name of Butz;
U.S. Pat. No. 6,216,382 B1, issued in the name of Lindaman;
U.S. Pat. No. 7,389,606 B2, issued in the name of McLeod;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,972,620, issued in the name of Boler; and
U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,028, issued in the name of Farmer.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved buoyant decoy apparatus, constructed of a lightweight material and configured to allow numerous decoys to be stacked on top of one another, thereby facilitating compact storage and transport of a high number of decoy devices in a single trip or transport event.
This application presents claims and embodiments that fulfill a need or needs not yet satisfied by the products, inventions and methods previously or presently available. In particular, the claims and embodiments disclosed herein describe a decoy device, the decoy device comprising: a lightweight, flexible body formed or die cut into a planar decoy blank, the body is foldable to a buoyant, three-dimensional configuration representing a wild game species; an attachment means for securely holding the body in the three-dimensional configuration; and a double-headed element releasably attachable to the body, the decoy device of the present invention providing unanticipated and nonobvious combination of features distinguished from the products, devices, apparatuses, inventions and methods preexisting in the art. The applicant is unaware of any product, device, method, disclosure or reference that discloses the features of the claims and embodiments disclosed herein.